Comedian says stroke gave him sense of gratitude

Mearns was forced to bring his career to an immediate halt

Last summer Raymond Mearns, one of Scotland’s most popular stand-up comics, had a mini-stroke.

On the first day of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe he was forced to cancel all his shows.

It meant his career came to a sudden stop.

But for the past five months, Mearns has been recovering and is back for a brand new show for the Glasgow international comedy festival.

He told BBC Radio's Mornings programme, about the day of his mini stroke on Friday 4 August last year, and how he woke up and felt "terrible".

He said: "I didn’t know what had happened to me.

"I just got up and I went to The Fringe. I did two shows that day, I didn’t feel great.

"It was a bit like my head was getting crushed in a vice, it was kind of a weird painful uncomfortable feeling."

After his two gigs he drove back home, but while driving, Mearns said he was hitting kerbs.

On the Saturday morning, he still felt the same, but he got up and went to his show.

Raymond will appear at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe again this year

The feeling still lingered on Sunday, so his wife decided to take him to hospital.

"I got up and still felt terrible and I nearly crashed the car on the Sunday morning.

"Annie, my wife, she says 'You're not right, we’re going to take you up to the hospital'."

When he arrived, he was checked by doctors, but nobody was able to find anything wrong.

He was offered a CT scan and this is where they discovered what had happened.

"I’d had a transient ischaemic attack, or a mini stroke. It was debilitating. It could have been a lot worse but they admitted me straight away.

"I said, 'Will I be able to go and do my show maybe Monday, Tuesday', but they went 'Forget it'."

Mearns said it took about a month for his coordination and speech to return

Doctors told him they were amazed he hadn't suffered a second mini-stroke, after he lifted weights on the Sunday morning to "wake himself up".

Over the past five months, Mearns has been recovering and relearning how to function.

He said it took about a month for his coordination and speech to come back.

He said: "Speech, I mean I don’t do anything else, I’m a comedian.

"I speak, so the speech was a problem because I knew what I wanted to say, but I couldn’t get the words out my mouth."

After his stroke, several comedians gathered to set up a GoFundMe page. They also arranged a benefit show to support Raymond.

Stuart Mitchell, Jay Lafferty, Frankie Boyle, Suzie McCabe, Chris Forbes and Fred Macaulay were among those who performed.

He said they received "unbelievable" support from everyone and it was "beautiful".

Frankie Boyle was among the group of comedians who supported Mearns

After his mini-stroke, Mearns says he has a new view on life.

“I think when you’re confronted with something like that and by the way, I was really lucky, it could have been a lot worse, you really appreciate what you’ve got.

"It’s probably brought a sense of gratitude. I’m really kind of grateful for what I’ve done in my life and who I’ve got in my life."

He says he has "cut down on all the bad stuff" like alcohol and he tries to eat better.

Now, he attends a football fitness club where he joins fellow Motherwell supporters to go to the gym, circuit train and play three aside football.

On 30 March, Mearns will perform at the Stand Comedy Club in Glasgow for the Glasgow International Comedy Festival.

His show, Raymond Mearns had a stroke of luck!, has already sold out one of his two shows.

He will also return to perform at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August.